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How do I ask a genealogy (family history) question?

At the Maple Ridge Museum & Archives, we average about 15 requests per week from all over the world from people seeking lost ancestors. We receive emails that sometimes give us too little of the information we need to be of any help. You can facilitate our ability to serve and get a response out quickly, by putting your request concisely in terms of the following:

Who?

Full name and date of birth. Many families re-used the same names over and over so the key to the generation is birth date. If you have other details — like marriage date and partner's name — include that too. If you are looking for an obituary, date of death is essential. However, if that is one of your questions, we have resources that may provide that information.

Other associated surnames can also be useful. If your person married into a long-standing Maple Ridge family, then our information is more likely to be associated with that other surname. Sometimes the names of neighbours can help.

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When?

Include the time period you are interested in. When did your person live in Maple Ridge? We don't need to know when they lived in Vancouver or Calgary - just Maple Ridge.

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What?

What question are you asking? It is tempting to say, "Everything you can possibly tell me about them", but we haven't got that kind of time. Focus your attention on one or two important questions. Once you have those answers, they may lead to other questions. It is better to work through a series of questions rather than try to do everything at once. We will spend up to one hour for free on a research request but after that our research fee of $50 per hour can really add up.

Finally, please share your compiled family history with the Maple Ridge Museum & Archives. We are happy to keep these records on file, and help you connect with other researchers.

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Maple Ridge: The Name that Comes and Goes

Why did they call it Maple Ridge?

One of the earliest European settlers in the district was John McIver, a Scot, who homesteaded the land now known as the Maple Ridge Golf Course. As his property incorporated a fine ridge topped by Maple trees, McIver called his farm "Maple Ridge".

By 1874, several small communities had sprung up, consisting of a few families each, on the north side of the Fraser River in the areas that would become Haney, Hammond, Pitt Meadows, Whonnock, Albion, Ruskin and Webster's Corners. One of the problems of small isolated communities is that they tend to stay small and isolated unless some means is found to build roads between them.

It was with this problem in mind that a group of forward-thinking men gathered at McIver's farm to discuss incorporating the whole district between the Pitt River and the Stave to allow taxation for road building. The name for the district was taken from McIver's farm and so we became "Maple Ridge" in 1874.

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The Community Post Offices

When the district incorporated in 1874, the total population was about 20 families with the majority located between Hammond and Kanaka Creek. The closest thing to a centre was the area that is now the foot of Laity Street where it meets River Road. This is where the first post office was established in 1876 with the name "Maple Ridge Post Office". All settlers had to travel to this location to get their mail.

In 1885, the completion of the CPR caused the community to rethink the location of their post office. It no longer made sense to have it up on the ridge when it could be near the railway. Three new post offices were opened that year in Haney, Hammond and Whonnock. The Maple Ridge post office was closed at that point and there wasn't one of that name again until 1970 when Canada Post closed the small offices in favour of one central one in the downtown core.

The first post office located away from the river bank was opened at Webster's Corners in 1891. Post Master James Murray Webster had to walk to the Haney Station to get the mail and then carry it back to Corners. Ruskin's post office opened in 1898.

In 1907, Albion got a new name along with its post office. Formerly known as East Haney, this was not distinctive enough for the postal service and so residents were asked to come up with a new name. The last post office in the district opened in 1911 and also required the adoption of a new name. The area we know as Yennadon was formerly called South Lillooet. Its first postmaster came from Yennadon Downs in England and chose the name of his old home for his new one.

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Full Circle: Back to Maple Ridge

There was a series of major controversies over postal name changes which reflect how important the old neighbourhoods were to their citizens. In the 1950's, considerable conflict arose in Hammond when residents were informed that the price of door to door delivery was the indignity of having to change their postal address to "Haney, BC" where the sorting station was located. The final solution was to change "Haney" to "Maple Ridge" as the more neutral name.

As postal districts became larger and door to door delivery from a central station more common, all the local postal addresses were gradually taken under the umbrella of "Maple Ridge". The name of the first and most short lived local postal address [which had only applied to the area around the foot of Laity Street when first established] was to be applied to the whole district as of 1970.

While "Maple Ridge" was certainly less contentious than having "Haney" imposed over the entire area, we still see the Whonnock Post Office struggling to retain its own name. Whonnock is the last rural post office in the Greater Vancouver region to retain its postmaster and original name.

7. Two families in Maple Ridge have farmed the same pieces of land for over 100
years. What are their names?

Hampton and Laity

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8. The Albion Fairgrounds office served what purpose when the fairgrounds were the
Spencer Farm?

The Milkhouse

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9. What was the Alouette Arts building at 232nd and Fern Crescent built for?

A dude ranch.

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10. Who was the first practicing MD in Maple Ridge?

Dr. Garnet Morse

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11. What road did the Lougheed Highway replace as it passed through Haney?

None. There was no pre-existing roadway that the Lougheed replaced.

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12. Who was the community's longest serving mayor?

Solomon Mussallem

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13. When did Pitt Meadows separate from Maple Ridge?

1896

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14. What was Abernethy & Lougheed Logging's main claim to fame?

State of the art use of a railway to log virgin territory.

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15. Who was the first non-native to climb the Golden Ears?

Sam Edge

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16. What was the original name of the Alouette River?

South Lillooet

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17. Who was the first European settler in Maple Ridge?

Samuel Robertson in 1858.

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18. How many people were killed by the Port Haney landslide of 1880?

One

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19. Why was "Alouette" chosen as the new name for that river?

Because it sounds like Lillooet.

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20. What is the name of the oldest church in the district?

St. John the Divine Anglican.

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21. Which church was dismantled and floated across the river from Derby?

St. John the Divine Anglican.

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22. What was the original use of the Billy Miner Pub building?

Bank of Montreal.

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23. What sort of fish did the Katzie catch using spear heads on very long poles?

Sturgeon

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24. What ethnic group formed 30% of the Maple Ridge population in the 1920's and 1930's?

Japanese

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25. Name the first proper high school built in Maple Ridge.

MacLean High in 1922

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26. Which high school burned down on Father's Day, 1953?

Maple Ridge High School

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27. Which ethnic group settled at Webster's Corners in 1905?

The Finns

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28. What British philosopher has a Maple Ridge neighbourhood named after him?

Ruskin

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29. What was Billy Miner's crime?

Train robbery

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30. What was the primary crop of the Japanese farms in Maple Ridge?

Strawberries

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31. Why are there so few Japanese people in Maple Ridge now?

Japanese families were moved to the interior during WWII.

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32. What did farmers buy from Haney Brick & Tile?

Drainage tile

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33. Where was the first store in Maple Ridge located?

On the Port Haney Wharf

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34. When did the first train come through Maple Ridge?

1885

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35. Before 1912, where did Maple Ridge's nearest doctor live?

New Westminster

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36. Where was the first school located?

Foot of Laity Street at River Road

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37. When was the first Fall Fair held in Maple Ridge?

1901

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38. What is the Japanese Buddhist Temple called now?

Houston's Pub

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39. What was the CEED Centre building originally used for?

Japanese kindergarten

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40. How long did the Haney family live in Haney house?

1878 to 1979 — 101 years

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41. Where was the first Fall Fair held?

At the original Municipal Hall on Callaghan Street.

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42. Who was Callaghan Street named after?

Daniel Callaghan, Anne Haney's father.

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43. When was Maple Ridge incorporated?

1874

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44. Who was the first postmaster in Maple Ridge?

William Justus Howison

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45. Who established the first library in Maple Ridge?

The Women's Institute

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46. Who ran the first early childhood health clinic in Maple Ridge?

The Women's Institute

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47. What was the primary method of transportation in Maple Ridge's earliest days?

Paddlewheeler

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48. When was the first power dam built in Maple Ridge?

1910

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49. What are the names of the two First Nations who live in Maple Ridge?

Katzie and Kwantlen

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50. How did the Stave River get its name?

Yellow cedar found there made good barrel staves.

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51. What was the most important fish in Katzie territory?

Salmon

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52. What small, oily fish was netted in great abundance by Katzie fishers?

Eulachon

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53. What instrument do Katzie people use to accompany their songs?

Drum

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54. Who was the first big promoter of equestrian sports in Maple Ridge?

Elizabeth Trethewey

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55. Which churches did Thomas Haney provide land for?

The original Catholic Church at the foot of 224th and the brick Presbyterian Church on 116th.

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We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia through BC150, a Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts initiative, BC Gaming, and the Heritage Legacy Fund of British Columbia.